Blog

Brown’s Belated Christmas Gift

Steelers 28vsBrowns 24

Wow. I was not really looking forward to this game. Not because I thought the Steelers would easily beat the spread, but the only meaning it had was the sequestration of our players from injury.

The Cleveland Browns seemed to be TRYING to lose this game.. as if the #1 pick in the 2018 draft was at stake (it’s not). Heartened as we were to observe just how deep our offense is, the defensive awfulness and why it hasn’t shored up some of its major weaknesses is scary.

Although Landry Jones has been vilified by some in Pittsburgh, he proved himself a capable backup (have you seen some of the starters on several other teams?!). Stevan “The Riddler” Ridley has provided De’Angelo Williams-like depth at running back. The offensive line was shuffled around a bit and gave good protection (with the exception of Chris Hubbard receiving an in-game transfer to center).

How about JuJu’s 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown?! The first since AB did it in his rookie year, 2010. It was also the first time a player scored a TD off of a touchdown and kick return since the vaunted Gary “The Baller” Ballman demonstrated his gazelle-like capabilities in 1963.

Themes

Steelers have solid offensive depth

The defense is sorely deficient for this playoff run

Cleveland is a suicidal team

5 Pivotal Plays

Corey Coleman’s dropped pass

JuJu’s 95 yard kickoff return for a TD*

DHB revers for a TD

Inability to score with 1st and goal from the Cleveland 4

Miles Garrett roughing the QB penalty

*Gary Ballman

Gary Ballman,a star half back and wide receiver out of Michigan State, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1962-1966, making the Pro Bowl in 1965 and 1966. On November 17, 1963 in a game against the Washington Redskins, Ballman returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Earlier in the game, he pulled in a 67 yard pass to score a TD. It took 54 years before another Steeler scored TDs in one game off of a pass and a kickoff return.

Interestingly, although Ballman was not as prolific in receptions or total yards as his more recent star receivers, he does stand out in the number of yards he produced per reception.

Gary Ballman

Hines Ward

Antonio Brown

Games

57

80

70

Receptions

154

330

390

Yards

2,949

3,888

5,259

Yards per reception

19.10

11.78

13.48

This table compares the six seasons Gary played for the Steelers to the first six seasons of Hines and AB.